FILTER BUBBLE

Photographs of No Importance

Filter Bubble (NSFW)

Jay Mawson August 24, 2016

I guess I’ve been doing this long enough now to recognise trends and cycles. I consume enough media to distill & filter images into basic categories. If it’s a widely accepted truth that all stories are based on seven basic plots, then all the editorials I currently see are based on just one fucking story recorded on an endlessly looped 8-track. The one where a girl arrives at a photographer’s apartment, stands somewhere near a window and undresses. If the photographer is really good, they’ll have managed to live near an outdoor pool or in LA.

Iceland Trip Pt 2

Jay Mawson June 12, 2016

There are two places that I’ve visited this year that crept up on me slowly, hit me hard and now have a strangle hold on my heart and my mind. Cape Town was the first, Iceland the second. Neither place grabbed my imagination immediately. My first Iceland post below bears that out…had it been a two day trip I would have enjoyed it, logged it and left it behind. The remainder of the trip was when it became clear you just can’t leave Iceland behind. It’s been six weeks now and I still think about it daily. Nostalgia isn’t healthy. It’s about time I finished this to lay it to rest, if only so I can post about South Africa.

On Travel

Jay Mawson May 9, 2016

I can’t speak with absolute certainty, but I’m fairly sure that when your dentist takes her annual vacation she doesn’t pack her drill. That your favourite barista leaves their Gaggia behind. The Uber driver parks his Avensis at the airport. I can’t think of many other professions where leisure travel involves you choosing to take along your entire arsenal of work tools.

jay mawson _ _JAY5914 _ 20111210.jpg — Tag Me

Image credits on Social Media

A Guide to Social Media Credits for Photographs

Jay Mawson June 19, 2014

It's 22˚C outside. Sticky city hot. But no sun because this is, after all, Manchester. I have a coffee (always), a new table to work at and 30 minutes downtime to put some thoughts down.

As my blog posts often do, this relates to test shoots and is less relevant for commercial work. It's about the currency of credit rather than that of Her Majesty.

Basically, we all test for three main reasons. Creative itches, speculative pitches and maintaining social visibility. The first is easily satisfied. The latter is easily frustrated. So here's a handy cut-out-and-keep* guide to how to do the small things that keep everybody happy and feeling warm inside. Because believe me - nothing creates quietly festering resentment in somebody like giving a day to creating something beautiful and then being socially erased from the end result. Rarely will the person actually say anything incase they come across as a diva. They'll just remember it next time you ask them…

On Desperation

Jay Mawson March 12, 2014

If you read any previous posts you already know my thoughts on providing work to commercial entities for free, and on submissions. I came across a beautiful example this week of how both these areas can collide in a car crash of exploitation.

jay mawson _ jaymawson_punkitup6 _ 20131014.jpg — On Submissions

To submit or not to submit

On Fashion Editorial Submissions

Jay Mawson February 17, 2014

It feels like I can't do a simple test today without somebody involved asking where it's going to be submitted. Or "Can we submit?". Or stating "I only test if it's for submission".

Yeah. We'll submit to 125. Or Purple. Maybe Vogue. Love. Wonderland. They're doing a feature on local designers shot in provincial towns this month. Perfect.

Back to Front (NSFW)

Jay Mawson February 8, 2014

It was Mark Twain who said (or didn't say, depending on which internet source Google takes you to) "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" - but, for the moment, Front magazine's current issue is sadly their last. After 16 years and 191 issues the alternative lads mag has ceased to be. It's not the first lad's mag to hit hard times recently. The original lad's mag - Loaded - has gone through two resurrections in the last year. Front itself has had six different owners/publishers over its lifetime. It may yet rise again. But probably not.

On Frames

Jay Mawson January 23, 2014

The following post might be achingly obvious to anyone who's walked an 'artistic' road through life. I'm a little lacking in the Fine Art History stakes. I know Van Gogh hacked an ear off and that a Picasso is a French car for people that don't like driving. And that's about it

I'm rarely completely satisfied with my own images. Most photographers I know feel the same about their own shots. Other people's frames are infinitely more enjoyable than your own.